Facebook Can Ruin Your Life

Facebook Can Ruin Your Life

This is the article that Facebook does not want to see posted on the internet. This is an article that most heavy Facebook users will never agree with. But if you have any common sense at all, you need to recognize; Facebook Can Ruin Your Life. I have come to this conclusion through personal experience, research and studying people’s behavior.

There is no doubt Facebook has connected people from around the world and can offer many advantages. However, for many it has become a source of major distraction and causes a huge loss in daily productivity. It it has sadly broken up relationships and it affects people’s general well-being. Very few Facebook users are aware of the consequences. Facebook is ruining lives and could be ruining yours.

The first thing to do is to understand the psychology of people’s behavior and understand what attracts them to spend so much time online posting pictures of their lives and scrolling through the lives of others. In 2011, two psychologists from Boston came to a conclusion on what exactly motivates us to use Facebook;

“Facebook use is motivated by two primary needs: (1) the need to belong and (2) the need for self-presentation. Demographic and cultural factors contribute to the need to belong, whereas neuroticism, narcissism, shyness, self-esteem and self-worth contribute to the need for self-presentation.”

Whatever you want to make of that conclusion, Facebook is tapping in to some very intense human desires and needs. People are therefore looking to be stimulated by logging in many times each day and hence becoming more and more addicted to the feeling. Like with most addictions the problems then begin to pour in; Our intention is to become more stimulated, but we end up feeling worse or guilty. Even scarier, problems are created with time management. productivity, privacy, work and our close relationships.

Studies show that people are spending nearly 60 minutes per day on Facebook. So the question is; At the end of the day how much time do YOU spend on Facebook ? If you’re not so sure on the amount, awhile back I wrote an article on a great tool that tells us exactly how much time we spend daily on social media. You can find the article on Rescue Time here. However, the reality is, up to 60 minutes is just an average, some users are spending way more time than that. Now lets put in to perspective the dangers of spending one whole hour daily just on Facebook. That is 7 hours a week, 30 hours a month and 365 hours a year. So here we are complaining we do not have enough time in our lives and yet we spend all this time on Facebook. That wasted time could cost a company $5000 to $10,000 and more depending on your hourly salary. It makes sense that companies struggle with this new reality, often times blocking access to Facebook or even spying on their employees to make sure they are working. Is it fair to say that this wasted time could be invested in your personal development, obtaining new knowledge and spending time with close ones whom you often tell you do not have time to spend with them because you are too busy? Is this not time robbed from the advancement of your personal projects such as working from home or exercising? Productivity is not the only thing that Facebook robs us from. Consider your relationship!

Facebook makes it easy to engage in less inhibited communication and therefore many people are taking risks in their lives that they would not normally take. People are disconnecting from people who matter most and starting new connections with others. They find themselves gossiping or putting people down whom they claim to love, somehow trying to feel better and all the while truly believing it has no consequences. Feelings of inadequacy in our relationships begin to set in by comparison. Many people are over posting and over sharing with no regard for privacy or others feelings. Family and friends are interacting with exes and old flames causing disagreements and bad feelings between couples. Facebook is depriving people of sleep and putting a damper on intimacy between couples. Finally when Facebook leads to an affair, therapists agree to say that Facebook makes it nearly impossible to recover because of the painful memories and suspicion.

In case you are wondering why someone that works in technology and with Facebook every day is highly critical of Facebook, it is because it is important to face the facts and realize it is really hurting too many people. Facebook doesn’t care about your needs and they want you to spend more and more time on their social media site. Every time the average time spent on their social media goes up so does the billions of dollars in advertising.

Start investing more in friends that actually do remember your birthday. Who actually send you a small gift, card or spend time with you. If you spend more than 20 minutes per day, STOP NOW!! Stop wasting your time allowing Facebook to rob you from taking care of yourself and your surroundings. Invest that lost time in personal development, working harder, exercising, starting a business, being more productive and maintaining relationships that matter.

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About Derek Bullard

My name is Derek Bullard. I am an I.T training instructor and educator at CDE College in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. I enjoy teaching others about how to become computer support specialists just as I have been for the past 16 years.
My main life focus right now is about learning, gaining new knowledge and sharing it with others. I hope to document some of my experiences with technology and relay them to you! You can contact me at any time if you would like me to review your product or a product that interests you. If I can be of assistance to you with any of your projects please contact me at info@dibblebee.com